Dance Of The Thunder Dogs

Rating:
Summary: A Different Dance
Review: A previous reviewer wrote that without Anna Turnipseed our protagonist Emmett Parker is nothing. Parker would probably agree, and I missed the steamy love scene that I have no doubt will surface in future installments. However Mitchell is at his very best in this thriller which shows Parker's resourcefulness and depth of character, character he got the hard way from his ancestors and his own struggle to walk the warriors' path. This book grabs you and doesn't let go even on the last page. A heck of a lot of fun.

Rating:
Summary: fascinating crime thriller
Review: BIA investigator Emmett Parker is home after thirteen years away solving tribal crimes. He is recuperating from a wound in his chest made from an axe during an Upstate new York case. Although being at home is an adjustment, his tribe is proud of his accomplishments and honors him at a pow wow attended by the president thanks to the Assistant Chief of Staff being his former lover Dagen Kirsch. They have a romantic encounter that makes Emmett feel better than he has since he broke up with FBI Agent Anna Turniseed before Dagen returns to DC.

BIA Agent Jerome Crow asks Emmett to help him prove that he was not embezzling trust fund oil money from the tribe. Jerome asks Emmett to meet him at a place where they will interrogate a suspect. Emmett reluctantly agrees, but at the rendezvous point he finds Jerome dying. An FBI agent observing Emmett pull a knife out of Jerome's chest concludes that Emmett killed Jerome. While on the lam, Emmett links this homicide with two others to hide a conspiracy to siphon tribal funds earned from oil.

DANCE OF THE THUNDER DOGS is a fascinating crime thriller that places an innocent person on the run from his law enforcement peers while also trying to clear his name. Always a maverick, Emmett has few friends he can count on while obsessed FBI Agent Mengas continues to chase him. Their hound and fox interplay makes for a fine action-packed thriller that Tony Hillerman's fans will believe is outstanding.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: Breathless pace compensates for credibility issues
Review: Coming home to recuperate from the near fatal injury sustained in "Sky Woman Falling," Emmet Parker, Comanche investigator for the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, receives an "honor dance" from his tribe, and the President even makes an appearance. So how does it happen that days later, he's a fugitive with feds and local cops gunning for him (literally), accused of murdering a friend and stealing oil well funds from his own people?

His old rival, FBI agent Michael Mangas, is quick to lead the ravening pack, but the easy assumption of guilt from everyone else never quite rings true. Put this aside, however, and you have an edge-of-the-seat chase through the backcountry of Oklahoma, complicated by Parker's unhealed chest wound. Parker does lots of outwitting, but Mangas is no slouch either, and eluding posses of cops requires numerous death-defying stunts as well as a bit of help from his friends, including a wise elder, an ex-wife and an ex-con.

Narrative shifts mostly between Parker and Mangas, and diverts occasionally to a slippery villain who calls himself by the name of an Indian god and murders as easily as he breathes. Parker's complicated partner Anna Turnipseed does not make an appearance, but the headlong rush to the finish makes up for the lack of psychological nuance.

Rating:
Summary: Different than the other books in the series, but well done.
Review: Dance of the Thunder Dogs is a tangent from the other books in the series, but a satisfying read nonetheless. If there's one thing Mitchell's good at is interweaving complex subplots together (Spirit Sickness,a good example). The turn of events that occur after Jerome's death escalate beautifully to a rich conclusion (Oil Conspiracy, Killer's connections, etc). Some notable moments include the cat and mouse game between Parker and Agent Mengas, and the revealing of various character involvement in the crime. I admit I would have liked to have seen more of Anna (Sky Woman Falling was great), but a novel devoted solely to Parker is still worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: A dangerous homecoming
Review: In the opening pages of Dance of the Thunder Dogs, Kirk Mitchell's fourth novel to feature Emmett Parker, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Investigator returns to his hometown to be honored by his tribe. Although pleased with the honor, Parker finds it a little disorienting to be back in his old stomping grounds. His confusion grows when he finds himself the chief suspect in the murder investigation of his boyhood Jerome Crowe, pursued by old associate Michael Mangan, an FBI agent with whom he's always had an uneasy relationship. Caught up in a game where sudden death is a consequence of failure, Parker strives to find the real killer even as the authorities continue their relentless pursuit.

Although the "accused-of-a-crime-he didn't -commit" is one of the oldest plots in the genre, Mitchell manages to give it a new spin by again exploiting Parker's insular world, that of the Native American, which allows him to explore issues and concerns unique to that community. As in previous works, Parker is again forced to wrestle with the fact that he is part of two cultures--attempting to evade capture in the outside world, he gets in closer touch to his Comanche heritage.

The decision to focus almost entirely on Parker yields substantial dividends, and augers well for future installments in the series. Book by book, Mitchell has been painting an intimate portrait of Parker, a tough, complex and conflicted man. It should be interesting to see what Mitchell has in store for his hero next.


Rating:
Summary: a half of a pair is nothing`
Review: This book is a waste. I have been waiting to read it for six months but when it arrives I find that half the book is missing.
Emmett Parker without Anna Turnipseed is nothing. The relationship between the two is what makes the previous stories work. This is just another who-done-it ala the "Fugitive" and as such, a waste of time and money.